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DAVID BIRNBAUM
Master of Class
David Birnbaum
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Photography | Jill Lotenberg
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BERNADETTE MARCINIAK & CATERS NEWS STORY BY CATERS NEWS
His company Rare 1 are specialists in top-ofthe-line diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and pearls, selling to ‘VIP clientele types
Birnbaum deals with elite slice of the market
If you’re in the market for some $100 million bling, a Fifth Avenue diamond dealer-to-the-stars claims to have the rarest ‘super gems’ on Earth
From the newly trendy $1 million ‘Power Rings’ popular on Wall Street to 100 carat diamonds for the mega-rich, David Birnbaum and his extensive network of contacts scour the globe for the most incredible rocks. His company Rare 1, located above New York’s Fifth Avenue, are specialists in top-of-the-line goods - diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and pearls, selling to ‘VIP clientele types.’
Fifth Avenue brands such as De Beers and Cartier sell their sparklers to the top 2 per cent of the population, on average.
But Birnbaum deals with an even more elite slice of the market - the top 0.1 per cent only, otherwise known as the mega, mega rich.
Fortunately for Birnbaum, these people are heads-of-state or genuine Hollywood A-Listers leading luxurious lifestyles with deep pockets and money to burn. Birnbaum, who lives in New York, said: ‘What we do lies on the border between mission impossible and mission possible - we have to keep finding ever-more unique and ever-more special gems all the time. ‘Our primary clientele are from the top 1/10 of 1 per cent of the global financial elite but over the years we have developed a dynamic and loyal client group ranging from young bankers to heads-of-state
